Automatic switch for stream diverter

ABSTRACT

A stream diverter for signature streams and the like including a mechanism for gripping and temporarily halting the stream to form a gap therein. Sensing means, upon detection of the presence of the gap in a predetermined location, activates a deflector bar and a pivotable roller assembly to move the cooperating diverter elements between either an upper or lower position for diverting the signature stream to either an upper or lower conveyor level, respectively, Immediately after movement of the pivotal roller assembly and deflector lever, the gripping means is released to permit the flow of signatures to resume. The diverter is adapted to operate in either direction with equal effectiveness.

Christer Sjogren River Edge;

[72] Inventors 3,565,423 2/1971 John R Green, west Milford both of NJ.Primary Exammer-Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Alfred N. GoodmanAttorney-Ostrolenk. Faber, Gerb & Sofi'en ABSTRACT: A stream diverterfor signature streams and the like including a mechanism for grippingand temporarily halting the stream to form a gap therein. Sensing means,upon den w o olmw w n 8 99 lllm L mm OOUOBI.

6ANAS a de N mm

. n i 00 P i P mas AFPA tection of the presence of the gap in apredetermined location, activates a deflector bar and a pivotable rollerassembly to move the cooperating diverter elements between either anupper or lower position for diverting the signature stream to either anupper or lower conveyor level, respectively. lm-

R m E I. m n E II D m M m A n E m R n T m S n R m C n n m Wm w w 5" mmT0 U AUU 4 2 U 1| 198/133, 271/77 [51] lat. B65h 29/58 mediately aftermovement of the pivotal roller assembly and [50] Field of [98/66,deflector lever, the gripping means is released to permit the 133;27l/64, 77, 78; 93/93 R. 93 C, 93 DP flow of signatures to resume. Thediverter is adapted to operate in either direction with equaleffectiveness.

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AUTOMATIC SWITCH FOR STREAM DIVERTER The present invention relates toconveyors and more particularly to a novel stream diverter forsignatures and the like, including means for momentarily halting thestream, shifting the conveyor mechanism for delivery of the signaturestream to either an upper or lower conveyor level, and enabling thestream to resume its flow to the desired output conveyor.

Conveyor mechanisms find widespread use throughout a variety ofindustrial applications. In the publishing field, conveyors are normallyemployed for moving signatures and the like from one location toanother. For example, newspapers and magazines, after completion of theprinting and binding or collating operations, are normally fed inoverlapping fashion from the printing press location to a remotelocation where the signatures are typically counted, stacked and tied.Numerous occasions arise where it is desirable and often necessary toprovide automatic means for rapidly diverting the signature stream fromone conveyor to another. For example, it may be desired to alternate thesignature stream flow between two output facilities (such as stackingdevices). As another example, it may be desired to normally deliver thesignature stream to a first conveyor and upon detection of a damaged ormisaligned signature, to divert the stream to a second conveyor facilityfor removal of the damaged or misaligned copy (or copies). Once themisaligned or damaged copies are removed, it is then desired to returnthe signature stream to the normal output conveyor facility. As anotherexample, in the case where the flow rate of the signature stream may beincreased to the point where the stacker facility is incapable ofstacking signatures at a rate at least as rapid as the flow rate, thediverter may be employed to divert the stream or a portion thereof to anauxiliary or spare stacker facility.

A number of stream diverter facilities exist in the prior art. However,it has been found that the prior art stackers are incapable of operatingas a true two-way diverter, in that they are incapable of switching froma first to a second position and then automatically switching back tothe first position.

The present invention is characterized by providing a novel streamdiverter facility capable of delivering a signature stream normally fedin overlapping fashion to either one of two output conveyors and forautomatically switching in either of two directions between the twooutput conveyors.

The present invention is comprised of an input conveyor facility andfirst and second output conveyor facilities positioned downstreamrelative to the input conveyor. A pivotally mounted roller assembly anddeflector lever assembly are arranged between the input conveyor and thefirst and second output conveyors and are each movable between first andsecond positions to divert the incoming signature stream to either ofthe output conveyor facilities in a rapid and automatic fashion andunder control of a gap sensing device.

A reciprocally mounted clamping mechanism is positioned in closeproximity to the input conveyor and is normally maintained in anunclamped position. In the case where it is desired to divert the streamfrom the output conveyor to which the stream is being delivered to theopposite output conveyor, a control signal causes the clamping device torapidly clamp the overlapping signatures moving past the clamping deviceso as to form a gap in the stream as it moves along the input conveyor.Means are provided for detecting the presence of the gap so as tooperate the deflector lever and pivotable roller assembly from itsexisting position to the desired position as soon as the gap in thestream moves to the position occupied by the deflection lever andpivotable roller assembly. These components are operated to their newposition in a rapid fashion, at which time the signal control signalcausing the operation of the diverting mechanism is also employed tosimultaneously move the clamping mechanism to the unclamped position,thereby allowing the signature stream to resume its movement whereby thepivotable roller assembly and deflection lever cooperate to deliver thestream to the desired output conveyor facility.

The diverting of the stream may occur as a result of a signal indicatingdamaged or misaligned signatures or may be employed to divert thesignature stream between the two output conveyor facilities in apredetermined alternating fashion.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a novelstream diverter facility for diverting the flow of signatures in eitherdirection between the two output conveyor facilities.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel streamdiverter for diverting an incoming signature stream of overlappingsignatures in either direction between first and second output conveyorfacilities whereby the signature stream is momentarily halted, thestream diverting components are actuated, and the signature stream ispermitted to resume delivery in an automatic and rapid fashion.

These as well as other objects of the present invention will becomeapparent when reading the accompanying description and drawings inwhich:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views showing the stream diverter facilityof the present invention.

FIGS. 3 and 3a are elevational and top plan views, respectively, of thestream diverter facility of FIGS. I and 2.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the system of FIGS. 1-31: showing thevarious conveyor belt arrangements.

The stream diverter apparatus 10 of the present invention is shown inFIGS. 1-4 as being comprised of an input conveyor section 11. Signatures(for example, newspapers) are delivered to the diverter apparatus fromthe left-hand end relative to FIG. 3 and are moved in the directionshown by arrow 12. The signatures 13 are arranged in overlapping fashionwith their folded edges 13a aligned in the downstream direction asshown. The signatures are supported and conveyed by means of the inputconveyor section 11 comprised of pivotally mounted rollers l4, l5 and16. A plurality of spring wire belts 17 are arranged in spaced parallelfashion within grooves 14a provided in roller 14 and are entrained aboutroller 14 and at least one cooperating roller (not shown) spaced by apredetermined distance to the left of roller 14. The spring belts movein the direction shown by arrow 12 and roller 14 rotates in theclockwise direction (relative to FIG. 3) to deliver the signature streamto the diverter apparatus.

In a manner similar to that described hereinabove, rollers 14 and 15 areprovided with a plurality of spring belts 18 which are arranged inspaced parallel fashion and are entrained about rollers 14 and 15 forconveyance of the signature stream in a manner similar to that describedhereinabove.

Rollers I5 and 16 are likewise provided with a plurality of spring beltsl9 entrained about these rollers. Rotation of the rollers is imparted bya mechanism to be more fully described.

A clamping mechanism 20 is positioned in close proximity to the inputconveyor section 11 and is comprised of shaft 21 joumaled withinbearings 22 and 23 (note especially FIG. 3a), which bearings are securedby suitable fastening means to a pair of upright plates 24 and 25,respectively. A pair of angle arms 26 and 27 have their first ends 264and 27a rigidly secured to free wheeling shaft 21 by means of suitabledrive pins. The downwardly depending arms are each provided withresilient grippers 28 and 29, respectively, which cooperate with thegrippers of a second pair of clamping members, to be more fullydescribed.

As shown best in FIG. I, a second shaft 30 has its ends journaled in apair of bearings which are secured to support plates 24 and 25 and arearranged to lie beneath the signature stream 13. FIGS. 1 and 3 show onesuch bearing 31 fastened to support plate 24.

A second pair of angle arms are secured at spaced intervals to shaft 30so as to be in alignment with their associated arms 26 and 27. Forexample, FIG. 3 shows one arm 32 whose upright arm portion is providedwith a resilient gripping member 33 which cooperates with grippingmember 28 when the gripper assembly is in the clamping position. Theremaining pair of arms cooperatively operate in a similar fashion. Itshould be understood that the lower pair of arms are rigidly secured tothe free wheeling shaft 30 in a manner similar to that described abovewith regard to arms 26 and 27.

During normal operation, the upper and lower pairs of arms are displacedfrom the signature stream to permit free movement thereof along the topsurface of spring belts 19. For example, considering FIG. 3, upper arm26 occupies the dotted line position 26' and lower arm 32 occupies thedotted line position 32', during free unimpeded movement of thesignature stream along spring belts 19.

The mechanism for operating the clamping assembly 20 is comprised of anair cylinder 34 having a first end thereof pivotally connected to amounting bracket 35 which, in turn, is secured to a bracket 36 which issecured to and suspended from the main frame 37 of the diverterassembly.

The air cylinder 34 is provided with a reciprocally mounted piston (notshown) coupled to a piston rod 38 whose forward free end is connected bypivot pin 39 to an angle arm 40. The opposite end of angle arm 40 iscomprised of a fixed solid block 41 having an opening for receivingshaft 30 and is further provided with a suitable set screw (not shown)for rigidly clamping block 41 to shaft 30. Block 41 is further providedwith a projecting arm 42 whose free end is connected by a pivot pin 43to a tie rod 44 having its upper end pivotally coupled to arm 46 bymeans of a pivot pin 45. The opposite end of arm 46 is comprised of asolid block portion 47 having an opening for receiving shaft 21 and isprovided with a suitable set screw (not shown) for rigidly clampingblock 47 to shaft 21.

The operation of the clamping mechanism 20 is as follows: to the opening340 of air cylinder 34 to drive compressed air into the cylinder andthereby cause the piston (not shown) and piston rod 38 to move in adirection shown by arrow 48. This causes arm 40 to pivot about thelongitudinal axis of shaft 30. Arm 40, which is rigidly secured to shaft30, causes clockwise rotation of shaft 30 (relative to FIG. 3) tooperate the lower arm 32 (for example) from the solid line position tothe dotted line position 32'. Simultaneously therewith, arm 42 rotatesclockwise about the central axis of shaft 30 imparting a generallydiagonally upward movement of connecting rod 44 in a direction shown byarrow 49. This movement causes rotation of arm 46 in thecounterclockwise direction (relative to FIG. 3) thereby rotating arm 46,shaft 21 and the arms 26 and 27 in unison. Thus, for example, arm 26(see FIG. 3) moves from the solid line position of FIG. 3 to the dottedline position 26'. The air cylinder 34 thereby moves the cooperatingpairs of anns by a suitable distance away from the signature stream topermit unimpeded flow of the stream.

The clamping operation is performed in the reverse manner wherebynegative pressures applied to the air cylinder 34 cause the parts tomove in the reverse direction whereby, for example, arms 32 and 26 movefrom their dotted line positions to the solid line positions 32 and 26,respectively, causing their gripping members 28 and 33 to firmly gripfour or five of the signatures passing therethrough (as a result of thefact that the signatures are arranged in overlapping fashion) tomomentarily halt the delivery of signatures beyond the location of theclamping members. It should be understood that both cooperating pairs ofclamping members operate in an identical fashion to provide uniformgripping and clamping of the signature stream across the width of thestream diverter.

Each of the gripping members are provided with deflecting members 50 and51 for guiding the signature stream flowing toward the clamping members(when in the closed position) to cause the bent forward edges of thesignatures to be directed towards the gripping members 28 and 23 (forexample). Considering FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seen that the upper arms26 and 27 have welded to their rear ends the upper ends 50a and 51a ofdeflector members 50 and 51 whose main body portions are diagonallyaligned relative to the horizontal plane when the arms 26 and 27 are inthe clamping position. Each arm is provided with a small bent portion50b at its free end, which bent portion is substantially horizontallyaligned. As was previously described hereinabove, the pair of deflectingmembers 50 and 51 are arranged to guide or deflect the incomingsignature stream downwardly toward the spring belts 18 and 19 during abrief interval in which the signature stream is clamped so as to causethe signatures delivered to the stream diverter to remain in closeproximity to the spring belts l8 and 19 during the clamping operation.

The stream diverting section 60 is comprised of a pair of uprightsupport plates 61 and 62 which are provided to support a plurality ofrollers. The upper ends of plates 61 and 62 are arranged to supportroller 63 which is rigidly secured to shaft 64 whose opposite ends arejournaled in bearings 65 and 66, which bearings are mounted to supportplates 61 and 62 by suitable fastening means.

A pair of diagonally aligned support plates 67 and 68 are rigidlymounted to support plates 61 and 62, respectively, by fastening meanssuch as, for example, the fastening means 69 shown in FIG. 3 whichsecure support plate 68 to upright 62. Members 67 and 68 support astationary (i.e., the nonrotating) shaft 69 which, in turn, is providedwith a free wheeling roller 70.

Support plates 61 and 62 also support a shaft 71 having its oppositeends journaled within suitable bearings. For example, FIGS. 2 and 3 showone such bearing 72 which is secured to plate 62 by suitable fasteningmeans.

The pivotable roller assembly 75, which is one major component of thediverter mechanism, is comprised of a pair of substantially trapezoidalshaped plates. H68. 3 and 3a show the plates 76 and 77 which areprovided with a first set of suitable openings for receiving shaft 71.The plates 76 and 77 are provided with bearings 78 and 79, respectively,which mount plates 76 and 77 to shaft 71 in a free wheeling manner. Afirst pair of suitable openings are provided in plates 76 and 77 formounting a nonrotating shaft 80. Shaft 80, in turn, is provided with apair of outer rollers 81 and 82 and a pair of inner rollers 83 and 84which are of greater length than the rollers 81 and 82. Each of thesepairs of rollers are provided with bearings 81a-84a, respectively, tomount the rollers to shaft in a free wheeling manner. Spacer members85-89 are positioned between and among the rollers and a pair of collarsand 91, which collars are keyed to shaft 80 to hold the rollerassemblies and spacers in their appropriate positions along shaft 80. Asimilar shaft and roller assembly comprised of shaft 92, rollers 93-96,spacers 97-101 and collars 102 and 103, is secured between pivotallymounted plates 76 and 77 in a manner similar to the shaft 80 and itsassociated rollers, spacers and collars. Shaft 92 is positioned belowand slightly to the left of shaft 80, as can best be seen in FIGS. 3 and3a.

The mechanism for operating the pivotally mounted roller assembly 75 iscomprised of an air cylinder 105 having a first end thereof pivotallyconnected to a mounting bracket 107 by means of a pivot pin 106. The aircylinder is provided with a reciprocally mounted piston (not shown)connected to a piston rod 108 whose free end is provided with abifurcated member 109 having a pair of arms 109a and 109b receiving ashaft 110 which pivotally connects the bifurcated member 109 to one endof a connecting rod 111, whose opposite end is connected to a downwardlydepending arm 112 by pivot pin 113. The upper end of arm 1 12 isprovided with a solid rectangular shaped portion 114 rigidly secured toa shaft 1 15. Block 114 is further provided with an integrally formedshort arm 1140 having a keyhole shaped opening 114b for receiving shaft1 16 which is provided with a small projection 1160 to be fitted withinand conform to the shape of the keyhole l14b.

The opposite end of shaft 116 is provided with a similar smallprojection 11612 which together with shaft 1 16 fits within a similarkeyhole shaped opening 117a provided within an arm 117. The opposite endof arm 117 is integrally mounted to a square shaped block 1 18 having anopening for receiving shaft 1 16. Block 1 18 is rigidly secured to shaft116.

A'plurality of deflection fingers 119a-119e are each provided withsuitable openings (not shown) for receiving shaft 116. The deflectionfingers are arranged at spaced intervals along shaft 116 and arepreferably welded to shaft 116 so as to move in unison therewith.

The operation of the deflection members and pivotally mounted rollerassembly is as follows:

Let it be assumed that the deflection members 119 are in the solid lineposition, as shown in FIG. 3, and that the pivotally mounted rollerassembly 75 is likewise positioned so that the plate 77 is in its solidline position as shown. In this position, the air cylinder 105, whichreceives air under compression, causes its piston (not shown) to bemoved near its right-hand end (relative to FIGS. 3 and 3a) to cause thepiston rod 108 to be moved to the position shown best in FIG. 3a. Inthis position, connecting rod 111 maintains arm 112 in the substantiallyvertical position, as shown best in FIG. 3. Thus, deflecting fingers 119are maintained in the solid line position shown in FIG. 3.

The bifurcated member 109 is mechanically linked to a triangular shapedplate 120 which is provided with an opening near its right-hand end forreceiving and being rigidly secured to shaft 92. The left-hand corner oftriangular shaped member 120 is pivotally connected to bifurcated member109 by means of shaft 110. The upper comer of triangular shaped member120 receives and is rigidly secured to shaft 121 which has its left andright-hand ends rigidly secured to plates 76 and 77 by suitablefastening means 122,122. Thus, the state of air cylinder 105 (withpiston rod 108 in a solid line position as shown in FIG. 3a) maintainsthe pivotally mounted roller assembly so that plate 77, for example, isretained in its solid line position.

Roller 72, rollers 81-83 and rollers 93-95 cooperate with a roller 125(to be more fully described) to form a cooperating roller assemblyhaving spring belts 126 entrained about these rollers (see FIG. 4) toform a stream conveying section which functions to convey signaturesthere along to deliver the signature stream to either the upper or loweroutput conveyor sections (to be more fully described) depending upon theposition of the primary components of the diverted assembly. With thepivotally mounted roller assembly in the position whereby plate 77, forexample, is in the solid line position as shown best in FIG. 3, thespring belts 126 support the signature stream as they pass along springbelts 19 to deliver the signature stream to the upper conveyor sectionto be more fully described. The deflection fingers 119 are so designedas to have their upper surfaces lying slightly below the portions of thespring belts 126 extending between rollers 72 and rollers 81-84. Thus,the deflection fingers 119 do not interfere with the conveyance of thesignature stream to the upper output conveyor section and, in fact, fitbetween the gaps provided between the rollers 81-84 so as to bridge theshort gap between the upper output conveyor section (to be more fullydescribed) and the portion of the spring belts 126 extending betweenrollers 72 and 81-84.

Let it now be assumed that the driving source for air cylinder 105exerts negative pressure upon cylinder 105. With the exertion ofnegative pressure upon air cylinder 105, the piston (not shown)contained therein, moves toward the left causing the piston and pistonrod 108 to likewise move toward the left (relative to FIGS. 3 and 3a).This movement is mechanically linked to the triangular shaped plate 120through shaft 110, causing the end plates 76 and 77 to rotate clockwise(relative to FIG. 3) about shaft 71 so as to move the plates and theirassociated rollers and shafts to the dotted line position represented byplate 77 It can clearly be seen that the rollers 81-84 mounted uponshaft 80 move to a point well below the horizontal plane occupied byspring belts 19 to form a gap at this point. Roller assemblies 93-96 actto maintain the required tension on spring belts 126, regardless of theposition of pivoting roller assembly 75.

Simultaneously therewith, the movement of piston rod 108 toward the leftis coupled through connecting rod 111 and arm 112 to cause shortprojecting arms 114a and 117 to rotate clockwise about shaft 115 therebymoving the deflection fingers from the solid line position 119 to thedotted line position 119', shown in FIG. 3. The simultaneous operationof the pivotally mounted roller assembly 75 and the deflection fingers119 causes a gap to be formed in the previous conveying direction of thesignature stream. The bent forward ends of the signatures 13 are thuscaused to strike up against the lower edges of deflection fingers 1 19'so as to be guided downwardly to a lower output conveyor section to bemore fully described.

The pivotally mounted roller assembly 75 and deflection finger assemblycomprised of deflection fingers 119 are prevented from being operateduntil the gap in the signature stream is formed by the clamping members.

A gap sensing apparatus is comprised of a housing 180 which is securedto a supporting strut 181. Supporting strut 181 has its opposite endsmounted to upright support plates 61 and 62. An angle arm 183 isemployed as the means for mounting housing 180 to plate 181. Housing 180is provided with a combined light source and light detector element 184whereby the light source directs light downwardly in the direction shownby arrow 185. Prior to a stream diverting operation, the light reflectedfrom the signatures of the stream passing beneath light rays 185 isinsufi'icient to cause the operation of the photodetector element.

As soon as a stream diverting operation is called for, air cylinder 34is operated to cause the clamping devices to clamp the signature streamin the manner previously described. Those signatures which liedownstream of the clamping members 28 and 33, shown in FIG. 3, will befree to move along spring belts 19 so as to be delivered to the outputconveyor section to which the signature stream was previously beingdelivered prior to the initiation of a stream diverting operation. Assoon as the rearward edge of the last signature to clear the clampingmembers 28-33 passes beyond the light rays 185, light rays 185 will befree to strike a reflector plate 186 supported upon bracket 187 andsupport arm 188 which causes the light ray striking the reflector plateto be reflected back toward the detection unit and be picked up by thephotodetection element (see arrow 185'). The upper surface of reflectorplate 186 is preferably highly reflective so as to cause substantiallyall the light impinging upon the reflector plate to be reflectedvertically upward and thereby strike the photodetector element. Theintensity of the reflected light is now sufficient to cause energizationof the photodetector element which generates an enabling pulse toinitiate operation of the air pressure source which operates aircylinder 105.

The enabling pulse also initiates the air pressure source (not shown)which controls the operation of air cylinder 34 to cause the clampingdevices to release the signature stream. Even through the divertingcomponents (assembly 75 and deflection fingers 119) are being operatedsimultaneously with the opening of the clamping members, the divertingmembers will have moved into their new position prior to the time thatthe signature stream, after having been unclamped, will arrive in thevicinity of the stream diverting components.

As an alternative arrangement to that described hereinabove, the aircylinders 34 and may each be provided with a pair of inlet openings (notshown) located near the ends of each air cylinder. One of the openingsis designed to receive air under pressure to operate its associatedpiston in a first direction, while the remaining opening is adapted toreceive air under pressure to drive its associated piston in the reversedirection.

An additional conveyor guiding section which cooperates with thedeflection fingers 119 is comprised of rollers 70, 63 and 127. Roller172 is mounted in a free wheeling manner upon shaft 128 which has itsends rigidly secured to a pair of upright arms 129 and which, in turn,are rigidly secured to the main frame 37 of the apparatus.

A first plurality of spring belts 131 are entrained about rollers 70 andare arranged at spaced intervals, as can best be seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and4. A second plurality of spring belts 132 are entrained about rollers 63and 127 and are arranged in substantially spaced parallel fashion as canbest be seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. The manner in which these rollers andspring belts are driven will be more fully described. However, it canclearly be seen that when the deflection fingers are in their upperposition, as shown by the dotted line representation 119', the forwardfree ends of the deflection fingers extend slightly above the lowerportions of spring belts 132 thereby causing spring belts 131 and 132and the lower edges of deflection fingers 119' to act as a guiding meansfor guiding the signature stream generally downwardly and to the rightwhen the deflection fingers and the pivotally mounted plates occupy thepositions 1 19' and 77', respectively.

When these members are in their opposite positions, as represented bydesignating numerals 119 and 77 in FIG. 3, spring belts 131 and 132 actto guide the signatures generally downwardly so as to cause them to bedelivered in a uniform manner from spring belts 19 and 126 to the upperoutput conveyor section, to be more fully described.

The upper output conveyor section is comprised of shaft 115 (which waspreviously described) having a plurality of free wheeling rollersections l33a-133l having bearings 134a-134I, respectively, enablingthese roller sections to be free wheelingly mounted upon shaft 115. Theupper output conveyor section is further comprised of shafts 135 and 136each of which has mounted thereto a roller 137 and 138, respectively.Shaft 135 is provided with bearings 139 and 140 for mounting shaft 135in a free wheeling manner. Bearings 139 and 140 are secured to themachine frame 37 by suitable fastening means. in a like manner, shaft136 is provided with bearings 14] and 142 for mounting shaft 136 in afree wheeling manner. The bearings 141 and 142 are rigidly secured tothe machine frame 37 by similar fastening means. A roller 143 is mountedbetween opposing sides of the main frame 37 so as to rotate in a freewheeling manner and so as to cooperate with selected spring belts, aswill be more fully described. A plurality of spring belts 144 areentrained about roller 138 and selected ones of the roller sections13311-1331, as shown best in FIG. 4.

A group of spring belts 145 are entrained about roller 137 and theremaining ones of roller sections 133a-133k so as to form a guidingconveying section for the lower output conveyor section in a manner tobe more fully described.

Still another plurality of spring belts 146 are entrained about rollers137 and 143 for the purpose of preventing signatures passing beneathroller 137 from curling around roller 137. Slots 137a in frame 37 areprovided for adjusting the position of roller 137 to accommodatesignatures of varying thickness.

The roller 138, in addition to receiving the spring belts 144, which areentrained about roller 138 and selected ones of the roller sections1330-1331 further receives and has entrained thereabout, spring belts174 which cooperate with rollers 138 and 147 to feed the signaturestream delivered to the upper output conveyor section to a utilizationdevice which may, for example, be a signature stacker.

Previously mentioned roller 125 is mounted upon shaft 148 which has itsopposite ends journaled within bearings 149 and 150, which bearings arerigidly fastened to the apparatus main frame 37 by suitable fasteningmeans. As was previously mentioned, spring belts 126 are entrained aboutroller 125, roller sections 81-84, roller 72 and roller sections 93-96.in addition thereto, roller 125 has a group of spring belts 151entrained about roller 125 and roller 152 which forms a portion of thelower output conveyor section to convey the signature stream to a secondoutput utilization device which may, for example, be a signaturestacker.

OVERALL OPERATION A brief summary of the operation of the streamdiverter will now be given in connection with the upper and lower outputconveyor sections.

Let it first be assumed that the incoming signature stream delivered tospring belts 18 are to be diverted to the'upper output conveyor section.Assuming that the appropriate operation of the clamping and diverterassemblies (which operation was described hereinabove in detail) hasalready taken place, the signature stream will pass over spring belts18, spring belts 126, the very short gap covered by deflection members119, spring belts 144 and spring belts 174. During this operation,

spring belts 131 and 132 act to guide the signature stream downwardlyalong the above mentioned horizontal path.

Let it now be assumed that the signature stream is to be guided to thelower output conveyor section. 1n this description it will again beassumed that the stream diverting operation (described hereinabove indetail) has taken place. With the appropriate stream diverting operationhaving been completed, the signature stream passes along conveyor beltsl8 and is guided downwardly by the joint cooperation of spring belts 131and 132 and the lower edges of deflection fingers 119' so as to beconveyed upon the portion of spring belts 126 which extend betweenroller 72 and roller 125. With the signature stream moving in thisdirection, spring belts 145 operate very much in the fashion as springbelts belts 131 and 132 to form a tapering guideway for the signaturestream which compresses the signature stream between spring belts 126(extending between rollers 72 and and spring belts 145. The signaturestream then exits between spring belts 126 and to move along springbelts 151 where they are delivered to an output facility positionedadjacent the end of spring belts 151. Obviously, if desired, any lengthconveyor section may be employed between the output utilization devicesprovided at the ends of the upper and lower output conveyor sectionswith the exact length of conveyor sections being dependent only upon theneeds of the particular user.

As an obvious alternative, one output utilization means may simply be atable upon which damaged or misaligned signatures may be collected.Obviously, either the upper or the lower output conveyor sections may beutilized as the normal conveyor section with the remaining outputconveyor section being utilized as the alternate or spare conveyorsection. In cases where the rate of delivery of the signature stream isgreater than the output utilization means provided at any one of theupper or lower output conveyor sections (or for any other reason),timing means (not shown) may be provided for actuating the air cylinderspreviously described in an alternating fashion in order to feedsignatures to the output utilization devices in an alternating fashion.

A motor 160, shown best in FIG. 1, is provided with an output shaft (notshown) which is coupled to the shaft 136 of roller 138 in order to movethe spring belts 144 in the direction shown by arrow 12. This rotationis imparted to gear 161 provided at the opposite end of shaft 136 whichmeshes with gear chain 162. Gear chain 162 meshes with gear 161 and withthe gears 163, 164, and 166. Gear 163 is mounted to shaft 71 carryingroller 72; gear 164 is mounted in a free wheeling manner upon shaft 167which is adjustably secured within an elongated slot 168 in main frame37 to maintain proper tension in gear chain 162; gear 165 is mounted toshaft 148 which carries roller 125; and gear 166 is mounted to shaft 135which carries roller 137. Thus, with the rotation of gear 161 in thecounterclockwise direction, as shown by arrow l6la, gears 163, 164 and165 are likewise rotated in the counterclockwise direction (relative toFIG. 1) as shown by arrows 163a, 164a, 165a and 166a, respectively, soas to rotate their associated rollers in the associated directions. Therotation of shaft 135 in the clockwise direction (relative to FIG. 1) isimparted to shaft 64 (which carries roller 63) by means of a second gear169 carried by shaft 135, a gear 170 carried by shaft 64 and a gearchain 171 entrained about gears 169 and 170. Since shaft 135 rotates inthe clockwise direction as shown by arrow 1660, this rotation will becoupled to shaft 64 to cause it to likewise rotate in the clockwisedirection as shown by arrow 64a. It is thus possible to appropriatelydrive the above mentioned rollers by means of a single motor through theuse of the aforementioned gears and gear chains. Those rollers notdirectly driven by motor means 160 are caused to rotate as a result ofthe spring belts entrained about these rollers and their associatedmotor driven rollers. For example, the rotation of roller 63 which isdriven by motor 160 through gear 161, chain drive 162, gear 166, shaft135, gear 169, gear chain 171, gear 170 and shaft 64, causes itsrotation to be imparted to rollers 127 and 70 by means of spring belts132 and 131, respectively. This causes rollers 70 and 127 to rotate inthe clockwise direction (relative to FIGS. 1 and 4) as shown by thearrows 70a and 127a, respectively, of HO. 4.

It can thus be seen that the present invention provides a novel two-waystream diverter mechanism which is capable of rapidly and automaticallydiverting a signature stream in either direction from of two outputconveyor sections by means of a mechanism which momentarily clamps theincoming signature stream, blocking any further delivery thereof to forma gap in the otherwise continuous stream. The gap is detected bysuitable detection means which prevents actuation of the deflectionfingers and pivotaily mounted roller assembly until the gap moves abovethe immediate region of the deflection fingers and pivotally mountedroller assembly, at which time these members are then actuated to moveto either one of their two possible positions whereby completion oftheir movement is immediately followed by a release of the clampingmechanism to permit the signature stream to resume its flow whereby thesignature stream is diverted to the appropriate output conveyor section.

Although there has been described a preferred embodiment of this novelinvention, many variations and modifications will now be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is to be limited,not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appending claims.

ll. The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive privilege orproperty is claimed are defined as follows:

1. Means for diverting the flow of a signature stream being delivered tothe diverting means between a pair of output delivery means comprisingan input conveyor section for supporting and moving said signaturestream in a first direction;

clamping means located in said input conveyor section and having firstand second cooperating clamping assemblies positioned above and belowthe plane occupied by said signature stream;

first means for moving said clamping assemblies toward one another toclamp selected signatures along said input conveyor section and formoving said clamping assemblies apart to permit unimpeded movement ofsignatures along said input conveyor section;

a pivotally mounted roller assembly positioned adjacent to thedownstream end of said input conveyor section;

a stationary roller assembly positioned a spaced distance from thedownstream end of said roller assembly;

conveyor belts being entrained around said pivotally mounted rollerassembly and said stationary roller assembly for supporting andconveying the signature stream as it leaves said input conveyor section;

second means for moving said pivotally mounted roller assembly between afirst horizontally aligned position and a second diagonally alignedposition;

a first output conveyor section having its upstream end positioned aspaced distance from the downstream end of said pivotally mounted rollerassembly, said first output conveyor section being adapted to supportand convey the signature stream delivered thereto when said pivotallymounted roller assembly is in said first position;

a second output conveyor section positioned a spaced distance below saidfirst output conveyor section and having an output roller assembly andconveyor belts entrained about said output roller assembly and saidstationary roller assembly for supporting and conveying signaturesdelivered thereto when said pivotally mounted roller assembly is in saidsecond position;

deflection means being pivotally mounted at its downstream end adjacentthe upstream end of said first output conveyor section;

means coupled between said second means and said deflection means formoving the free end of said deflection means downwardly to a firstposition for spanning the gap between the upstream end of said firstoutput conveyor section and the pivotally mounted roller assembly whensaid pivotally mounted roller assembly is moved to said first positionand for moving the free end of said deflection means upwardly to asecond position above the plane of movement of said signatures passingalong said input conveyor section to deflect said signatures away fromsaid first output conveyor section and toward said stationary rollerassembly.

2. The diverter means of claim 1 further comprising means positioneddownstream of said clamping means for detecting the gap formed in thesignature stream by said clamping means to enable said second means tooperate only after the last unclamped signature passes said detectingmeans.

3. The diverter means of claim 2 wherein said detecting means iscomprised of a light source and photodetector means positioned to oneside of the said plane of movement of said signature stream;

reflector means positioned to the opposite side of said plane ofmovement of said signature stream for reflecting light rays emitted fromsaid light source toward said photodetector means when said lastunclamped signature passes said detecting means.

4. The diverter means of claim 2 wherein said detecting means iscomprised of a light source and photodetector means positioned onopposite sides of the said plane of movement of said signature stream;

said photodetector means being adapted to receive the light rays emittedfrom said light source when said last unclamped signature passes saiddetecting means.

5. The stream diverting means of claim 1 wherein said first clampingassembly is comprised of at least one arm pivotally mounted at one endabove the plane of movement of said signature stream, the free end ofsaid arm being directed toward said signature stream;

said second clamping assembly being comprised of at least one armpivotally mounted at one end below the plane of movement of saidsignature stream, the free end of said arm being directed toward saidsignature stream.

6. The stream diverting means of claim 5 wherein said first moving meansis comprised of an air cylinder having a reciprocally mounted piston;

a piston rod coupled to said piston;

a first connecting rod being coupled between one arm of one of saidfirst and second clamping assemblies and said piston rod for moving itsassociated arm between the clamped and unclamped positions.

7. The stream diverting means of claim 6 further comprising a secondconnecting rod coupled between said first connecting rod and the arm ofthe remaining one of said first and second clamping assembly arms foroperating its associated arm between said clamped and unclampedpositions in unison with the arm of said one of said first and secondclamping assemblies.

8. The stream diverting means of claim 1 further comprising a second aircylinder having a reciprocally mounted piston;

a piston rod coupled to said piston;

means for pivotally coupling the free end of said piston rod to saidpivotally mounted roller assembly.

9. The stream diverting means of claim 8 wherein said means for movingsaid deflection means is comprised of a connecting rod coupled betweensaid deflection means and the free end of said piston rod to operatesaid deflection means in unison with said pivotally mounted rollerassembly.

10. The stream diverting means of claim 1 further comprising a guidingconveyor section positioned a spaced distance above said first outputconveyor section and said pivotally mounted roller assembly and havingat least a portion thereof confronting said first output conveyorsection being downwardly inclined from its upstream end toward itsdownstream end for guiding the signature stream to pass along said firstoutput conveyor section.

11. The stream diverting means of claim 10 wherein said deflection meansis comprised of a plurality of deflection fingets;

said guiding conveyor section being comprised of at least two spacedparallel roller assemblies having a plurality of conveyor beltsentrained about said roller assemblies in spaced parallel fashion;

the forward free ends of said deflection fingers being adapted to extendbetween said conveyor belts when in said upward position whereby saidinclined portion cooperates with said deflection fingers to guide thesignature stream toward said second output conveyor section.

12. The stream diverting means of claim 1 further comprising a streamcompressing conveyor section having at least a pair of spaced parallelroller assemblies and a plurality of conveyor belts entrained aroundsaid roller assemblies;

said compressing conveyor section and the portion of the conveyor beltsextending between said pivotally mounted roller assembly and saidstationary roller assembly cooperating to form a guide path for thesignature stream which tapers to form a narrow exit path at thedownstream end of said compressing conveyor section.

13. The stream diverting means of claim 1 further comprising a conveyordriving motor;

means coupled between the output of said motor and said input and firstand second output conveyor sections for conveying said signature streambetween its input and output ends.

14. The stream diverting means of claim 1 wherein said pivotally mountedroller assembly is comprised of a pair of spaced parallel supportplates;

first, second and third roller assemblies arranged in spaced parallelfashion in a triangular arrangement;

a shaft for pivotally supporting the upstream ends of said supportplates;

a second shaft mounted between said support plates and being connectedto said first drive means;

said conveyor belts being entrained around said first,

second and third roller assemblies and said stationary roller assembly.

15. The stream diverting means of claim 14 wherein the roller assemblyof said pivotally mounted roller assembly positioned in close proximityto said deflection means is comprised of a plurality of split rollersections arranged at spaced intervals along a shaft;

said deflection means being comprised of a plurality of deflectionfingers having their free ends adapted to be positioned in the gapsbetween adjacent roller sections of the split roller assembly whensignatures are being delivered to said first output conveyor section tothereby enable the upper edges of the deflection fingers to lie slightlybelow the signature stream when the deflection fingers are spanning thegap between said split roller assembly and the upstream end of saidfirst output conveyor section.

16. The stream diverting means of claim 1 wherein said signature streamis arranged in overlapping fashion.

17. A reversible stream diverter comprising first and second outputconveyor sections each being adapted to support and convey a signaturestream delivered thereto;

said second output conveyor section being positioned a spaced distancebeneath said first output conveyor section;

a third input conveyor section being adapted to support a signaturestream and convey said signature stream downstream toward said first andsecond conveyor sections;

means adjacent said first conveyor section for temporarily clampingselected signatures in the stream being conveyed;

said first and second conveyor sections being substantially coplanar;

a fourth conveyor section comprised of at least first, second and thirdroller assemblies;

said first roller assembly being positioned adjacent the downstream endof said third conveyor section; said second roller assembly beingpositioned ad acent the upstream end of said second conveyor section;

said third roller assembly being movable between a first positionadjacent to and coplanar with the upstream end of said first conveyorsection and a second position below the upstream end of said firstconveyor section;

deflection means having a downstream end pivotally mounted adjacent tothe upstream end of said first conveyor section and being rotatablymounted to move between a first position whereby said fingers aresubstantially horizontally aligned to span the gap between said movableroller assembly and the upstream end of said first conveyor section anda second position whereby the free ends of said fingers extend above theconveying surface of said third conveyor section whereby the lowersurfaces of said fingers guide the signature stream to said secondconveyor section;

linking means coupled between said movable roller assembly and saiddeflection means for moving said deflection means to said first andsecond positions when said movable roller assembly is being respectivelymoved to its first and second positions.

1. The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive privilege orproperty is claimed are defined as follows:
 2. The diverter means ofclaim 1 further comprising means positioned downstream of said clampingmeans for detecting the gap formed in the signature stream by saidclamping means to enable said second means to operate only after thelast unclamped signature passes said detecting means.
 3. The divertermeans of claim 2 wherein said detecting means is comprised of a lightsource and photodetector means positioned to one side of the said planeof movement of said signature stream; reflector means positioned to theopposite side of said plane of movement of said signature stream forreflecting light rays emitted from said light source toward saidphotodetector means when said last unclamped signature passes saiddetecting means.
 4. The diverter means of claim 2 wherein said detectingmeans is comprised of a light source and photodetector means positionedon opposite sides of the said plane of movement of said signaturestream; said photodetector means being adapted to receive the light raysemitted from said light source when said last unclamped signature passessaid detecting means.
 5. The stream diverting means of claim 1 whereinsaid first clamping assembly is comprised of at least one arm pivotallymounted at one end above the plane of movement of said signature stream,the free end of said arm being directed toward said signature stream;said second clamping assembly being comprised of at least one armpivotally mounted at one end below the plane of movement of saidsignature stream, the free end of said arm being directed toward saidsignature stream.
 6. The stream diverting means of claim 5 wherein saidfirst moving means is comprised of an air cylinder having a reciprocallymounted piston; a piston rod coupled to said piston; a first connectingrod being coupled between one arm of one of said first and secondclamping assemblies and said piston rod for moving its associated armbetween the clamped and unclamped positions.
 7. The stream divertingmeans of claim 6 further comprising a second connecting rod coupledbetween said first connecting rod and the arm of the remaining one ofsaid first and second clamping assembly arms for operating itsassociated arm between said clamped and unclamped positions in unisonwith the arm of said one of said first and second clamping assemblies.8. The stream diverting means of claim 1 further comprising a second aircylinder having a reciprocally mounted piston; a piston rod coupled tosaid piston; means for pivotally coupling the free end of said pistonrod to said pivotally mounted roller assembly.
 9. The stream divertingmeans of claim 8 wherein said means for moving said deflection means iscomprised of a connecting rod coupled between said deflection means andthe free end of said piston rod to operate said deflection means inunison with said pivotally mounted roller assembly.
 10. The streamdiverting means of claim 1 further comprising a guiding conveyor sectionpositioned a spaced distance above said first output conveyor sectionand said pivotally mounted roller assembly and having at least a portionthereof confronting said first output conveyor section being downwardlyinclined from its upstream end toward its downstream end for guiding thesignature stream to pass along said first output conveyor section. 11.The stream diverting means of claim 10 wherein said deflection means iscomprised of a plurality of deflection fingers; said guiding conveyorsection being comprised of at least two spaced parallel rollerassemblies having a plurality of conveyor belts entrained about saidroller assemblies in spaced parallel fashion; the forward free ends ofsaid deflEction fingers being adapted to extend between said conveyorbelts when in said upward position whereby said inclined portioncooperates with said deflection fingers to guide the signature streamtoward said second output conveyor section.
 12. The stream divertingmeans of claim 1 further comprising a stream compressing conveyorsection having at least a pair of spaced parallel roller assemblies anda plurality of conveyor belts entrained around said roller assemblies;said compressing conveyor section and the portion of the conveyor beltsextending between said pivotally mounted roller assembly and saidstationary roller assembly cooperating to form a guide path for thesignature stream which tapers to form a narrow exit path at thedownstream end of said compressing conveyor section.
 13. The streamdiverting means of claim 1 further comprising a conveyor driving motor;means coupled between the output of said motor and said input and firstand second output conveyor sections for conveying said signature streambetween its input and output ends.
 14. The stream diverting means ofclaim 1 wherein said pivotally mounted roller assembly is comprised of apair of spaced parallel support plates; first, second and third rollerassemblies arranged in spaced parallel fashion in a triangulararrangement; a shaft for pivotally supporting the upstream ends of saidsupport plates; a second shaft mounted between said support plates andbeing connected to said first drive means; said conveyor belts beingentrained around said first, second and third roller assemblies and saidstationary roller assembly.
 15. The stream diverting means of claim 14wherein the roller assembly of said pivotally mounted roller assemblypositioned in close proximity to said deflection means is comprised of aplurality of split roller sections arranged at spaced intervals along ashaft; said deflection means being comprised of a plurality ofdeflection fingers having their free ends adapted to be positioned inthe gaps between adjacent roller sections of the split roller assemblywhen signatures are being delivered to said first output conveyorsection to thereby enable the upper edges of the deflection fingers tolie slightly below the signature stream when the deflection fingers arespanning the gap between said split roller assembly and the upstream endof said first output conveyor section.
 16. The stream diverting means ofclaim 1 wherein said signature stream is arranged in overlappingfashion.
 17. A reversible stream diverter comprising first and secondoutput conveyor sections each being adapted to support and convey asignature stream delivered thereto; said second output conveyor sectionbeing positioned a spaced distance beneath said first output conveyorsection; a third input conveyor section being adapted to support asignature stream and convey said signature stream downstream toward saidfirst and second conveyor sections; means adjacent said first conveyorsection for temporarily clamping selected signatures in the stream beingconveyed; said first and second conveyor sections being substantiallycoplanar; a fourth conveyor section comprised of at least first, secondand third roller assemblies; said first roller assembly being positionedadjacent the downstream end of said third conveyor section; said secondroller assembly being positioned adjacent the upstream end of saidsecond conveyor section; said third roller assembly being movablebetween a first position adjacent to and coplanar with the upstream endof said first conveyor section and a second position below the upstreamend of said first conveyor section; deflection means having a downstreamend pivotally mounted adjacent to the upstream end of said firstconveyor section and being rotatably mounted to move between a firstposition whereby said fingers are substantially horizontally aligned tospan the gap between said movable rolLer assembly and the upstream endof said first conveyor section and a second position whereby the freeends of said fingers extend above the conveying surface of said thirdconveyor section whereby the lower surfaces of said fingers guide thesignature stream to said second conveyor section; linking means coupledbetween said movable roller assembly and said deflection means formoving said deflection means to said first and second positions whensaid movable roller assembly is being respectively moved to its firstand second positions.